Conventionally, as a sample processing apparatus for aspirating a sample and sequentially performing a plurality of processes onto the sample, there are known sample processing apparatuses such as a smear preparing apparatus for aspirating a sample and preparing a smear on a slide glass, and a sample analyzer for aspirating a sample to be accommodated in a cuvette and analyzing the sample in the cuvette. It is also known that in such sample processing apparatuses, in a case where an abnormality occurs while a sample is being processed, processes of samples for which the processes can be continued are continued to be performed.
For example, in an automatic analyzer disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 3-183955, when it is determined that the abnormality is related to any one of specimen dispensers, reagent dispensers, and agitators, mechanism parts other than reaction tables and parts relating to optical measurements are stopped, thereby causing the automatic analyzer to be in a partially stopped state. Then, the automatic analyzer is controlled such that after optical measurement operations are finished with respect to a plurality of samples whose remaining processes have been optical measurement operations only, all parts of the automatic analyzer are stopped.
In such an automatic analyzer that is partially stopped in the case of an occurrence of an abnormality, if an abnormality occurs, processes of samples that have been temporally stopped due to the partial stop of the analyzer cannot be resumed until optical measurement operations are finished with respect to all of the samples whose remaining processes have been optical measurement operations only. Therefore, the automatic analyzer of Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 3-183955 has a problem in that a suspension time of sample processing in the case of an occurrence of an abnormality is long.